Blogroll

The Best Bike Ride Ever by James Proimos; illustrated by Johanna Wright
Remember your first bike? When Bonnie gets her first bike, she’s so excited, she hops on and doesn’t stop. Bonnie rides over bridges, mountains, a pink elephant; through downpours, windstorms and a giraffe. And, then she falls and realizes she probably shouldn’t have ridden off all “willy-nilly” without putting on her helmet and learning how to use the brakes. The colorful larger-than-life illustrations will captivate young readers as they journey with Bonnie to all those places and wonder how she did it. At the end, turn back to the title page and let your child spend time looking at the illustration that shows Bonnie’s bike ride occurred entirely in her backyard!

Boot & Shoewritten and illustrated by Marla Frazee
Boot and Shoe are littermates who love each other and do just about everything together. The only difference is Boot spends his days on the back porch, and Shoe spends his days on the front porch. That’s just the kind of dogs they are. Life is easy and predictable until a pesky squirrel starts trouble. Frazee’s illustrations are as good as her words – my favorite is the two-page illustration of the chase scene between the pooches and that pesky squirrel.

Dog Loves Drawing written and illustrated by Louise Yates
Dog discovers that he loves drawing, when he receives a sketchbook in the mail from his Aunt Dora. Dog draws a stickman friend who brings him to a new world, where he meets many more new friends. All is well until Duck decides to draw a monster! Will all Dog’s new friends be safe from the monster? Yate’s doodle-like illustrations and large easy text will inspire kids to fill a sketchbook with their own adventures.

Lucky and Squash by Jeanne Birdsall; illustrated by Jane Dyer
Lucky and Squash, are two dogs who are neighbors and best friends. They hatch a plan to bring their two owners, Miss Violet and Mr. Bernard, together because if they should fall in love and get married, then Lucky and Squash can play together every day! Young readers will love these two canine friends and enjoy the story’s happy and predictable end. Dyer’s watercolor illustrations perfectly portray the playfulness of the pooches and the budding romance of Miss Violet and Mr. Bernard.

The Monsters’ Monster written and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell
Three little monsters thought that they could build the biggest, baddest monster ever. And when their monster comes to life they are sure he will wreak havoc in the small monster-fearing village. But, their monster has a different idea about how to view the world and others. Will he change these bad little monsters with just two little words?